THE SHORTLIST HAS been unveiled for the An Post Irish Book Awards 2021, with a wealth of writers across the fiction, non-fiction and short story categories nominated.

This year, authors on the shortlist include Sarah Gilmartin, Fintan O’Toole, Sally Rooney, Catherine Ryan Howard, Séamas O’Reilly, Donal Skehan, Sinéad Moriarty, Rosaleen McDonagh, Paul Howard, Oliver Jeffers, and Dónal Ryan.

There were also four new categories unveiled for 2021: An Post Bookshop of the Year, Dubray Biography of the Year, Library Association of Ireland Author of the Year and Bookstation Lifestyle Book of the Year

While last year’s awards ceremony was online due to the pandemic, this year an in-person awards ceremony to celebrate 2021 winners will take place in Dublin on 23 November. The event will be livestreamed.  

The An Post Irish Book Awards 2021 Shortlist is as follows:

Eason Novel of the Year

• Beautiful World, Where Are You – Sally Rooney (Faber)
• Panenka – Rónán Hession (Bluemoose)
• Small Things Like These – Claire Keegan (Faber)
• The Echo Chamber – John Boyne (Doubleday / Transworld)
• The Magician – Colm Tóibín (Viking, Penguin General, Penguin Random House)
• White City – Kevin Power (Simon & Schuster)

Irish Independent Crime Fiction Book of the Year

• 56 Days – Catherine Ryan Howard (Atlantic Books / Corvus)
• All Her Fault – Andrea Mara (Transworld)
• April in Spain – John Banville (Faber)
• The Dark Room – Sam Blake (Atlantic Books / Corvus)
• The Devil’s Advocate – Steve Cavanagh (Orion)
• The Killing Kind – Jane Casey (Harper Fiction)

Eason Sports Book of the Year In Association with Ireland AM

• Crossing The Line – Willie Anderson with Brendan Fanning (Reach Sport)
• Dark Blue – Shane Carthy (The O’Brien Press)
• Devotion – Mickey Harte with Brendan Coffey (HarperCollins Ireland)
• Fight or Flight: My Life, My Choices – Keith Earls with Tommy Conlon (Reach Sport)
• The Nation Holds Its Breath – George Hamilton (Merrion Press)
• Unbroken: A journey of adversity, mental strength and physical fitness – Aidan O’Mahony (Hachette Books Ireland)

Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year

• A Crooked Tree – Una Mannion (Faber)
• Boys Don’t Cry – Fíona Scarlett (Faber)
• Dinner Party: A Tragedy – Sarah Gilmartin (Pushkin Press)
• Diving for Pearls – Jamie O’Connell (Transworld Ireland)
• Holding Her Breath – Eimear Ryan (Sandycove)
• Snowflake – Louise Nealon – (Bonnier Books UK)

Odgers Berndtson Ireland Non-Fiction Book of the Year

• A State of Emergency – Richard Chambers (HarperCollins Ireland)
• Between Two Hells – Diarmaid Ferriter (Profile)
• Four Years in the Cauldron – Brian O’Donovan (Sandycove)
• Northern Protestants: On Shifting Ground – Susan McKay (Blackstaff Press)
• The Best Catholics in the World – Derek Scally (Sandycove)
• We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958 – Fintan O’Toole (Head of Zeus)

Dubray Biography of the Year

• Belonging: A Memoir of Place, Beginnings and One Woman’s Search for Truth and Justice for the Tuam Babies – Catherine Corless with Naomi Linehan (Hachette Books Ireland)
• Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? – Séamas O’Reilly (Little, Brown Book Group)
• Gas Man – Colin Black (HarperCollins Ireland)
• Boy 11963 : An Irish Industrial School Childhood and an Extraordinary Search for Home – John Cameron with Kathryn Rogers (Hachette Books Ireland)
• Openhearted – Ann Ingle (Sandycove)
• Rememberings – Sinéad O’Connor (Sandycove)

Bookselling Ireland Cookbook of the Year

• Everyday Cook – Dónal Skehan (Hodder & Stoughton)
• How To Cook – Darina Allen (Octopus Books)
• Learn to Cook with Neven – Neven Maguire (Gill Books)
• Soup Broth Bread – Rachel Allen (Penguin Random House)
• The Daly Dish Rides Again: 100 more masso slimming meals for everyday – Gina Daly & Karol Daly (Gill Books)
• Trisha’s 21 Day Reset – Trisha Lewis (Gill Books)

National Book Tokens Popular Fiction Book of the Year

• About Us – Sinéad Moriarty (Sandycove)
• Aisling and the City – Emer McLysaght & Sarah Breen (Gill Books)
• Freckles – Cecelia Ahern (HarperFiction)
• Normal Sheeple – Ross O’Carroll Kelly (Sandycove)
• The Guinness Girls: A Hint of Scandal – Emily Hourican (Hachette Books Ireland)
• Three Weddings and a Proposal – Sheila O’Flanagan (Headline)

Bookstation Lifestyle Book of the Year

• Awaken Your Power Within – Gerry Hussey (Hachette Books Ireland)
• Décor Galore – Laura de Barra (Transworld Ireland)
• High Hopes: Making Music, Losing My Way, Learning to Live – Steve Garrigan (Hachette Books Ireland)
• A Cloud Where the Birds Rise: A book about love and belonging – Michael Harding and Jacob Stack (Hachette Books Ireland)
• Mind Full – Dermot Whelan (Gill Books)
• Ranger 22: Lessons From The Front – Ray Goggins (Gill Books)

TheJournal.ie Best Irish Published Book of the Year

• Corpsing: My Body and Other Horror Shows – Sophie White (Tramp Press)
• Look! It’s a Woman Writer! – Éilís Ní Dhuibhne (Arlen House)
• Tea for One – Alice Taylor. With photographs by Emma Byrne (Brandon, an imprint of The O’Brien Press)
• The Coastal Atlas of Ireland – Robert Devoy, Val Cummins, Barry Brunt, Darius Bartlett & Sarah Kandrot (Cork University Press)
• The Presidents’ Letters – An Unexpected History of Ireland – Flor Mac Carthy (New Island)
• Tree Dogs, Banshee Fingers and Other Irish Words for Nature – Manchán Magan, illustrated by Steve Doogan (Gill Books)
• Unsettled – Rosaleen McDonagh (Skein Press)

Specsavers Children’s Book of the Year (Senior)

• Aldrin Adams and the Cheese Nightmares – Paul Howard, illustrated by Lee Cosgrove (Penguin)
• Lily’s Dream – A Lissadell Story – Judi Curtin, illustrated by Rachel Corcoran (The O’Brien Press)
• Mr. Spicebag – Freddie Alexander, illustrated by Helen O’Higgins (HarperCollins Ireland)
• The Summer I Robbed A Bank – David O’Doherty, illustrated by Chris Judge (Penguin)
• The Little Bee Charmer of Henrietta Street – Sarah Webb, illustrated by Rachel Corcoran (The O’Brien Press)
• The Shadows of Rookhaven – Pádraig Kenny, illustrated by Edward Bettison (Macmillan Children’s Books)

Specsavers Children’s Book of the Year (Junior)

• A Hug For You – David King, illustrated by Rhiannon Archard (Sandycove)
• Evie’s Christmas Wishes – Siobhán Parkinson, illustrated by Shannon Bergin (Little Island Books)
• Maybe… – Chris Haughton (Walker Books)
• Puffling and the Egg – Erika McGann & Gerry Daly (The O’Brien Press)
• There’s a Ghost in this House – Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
• Up on the Mountain – Peter Donnelly (Gill Books)

Teen / Young Adult Book of the Year

• Baby Teeth – Meg Grehan (Little Island Books)
• Not My Problem – Ciara Smyth (Andersen Press)
• Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating – Adiba Jaigirdar (Hachette Children’s Group)
• The Legend of Valentine Sorrow – Caroline Busher (Poolbeg)
• The New Girl – Sinéad Moriarty (Gill Books)
• What Love Looks Like – Jarlath Gregory (The O’Brien Press)

RTÉ Audience Choice Award

• As the Smoke Clears (championed by Joe Duffy) – Zoe Holohan (Gill Books)
• Nanny, Ma, and Me (championed by Zainab Boladale) – Jade Jordan, Dominique Jordan and Kathleen Jordan (Hachette Books Ireland)
• Nora (championed by Seán Rocks) – Nuala O’Connor (New Island Books)
• Openhearted (championed by Ray D’Arcy) – Ann Ingle (Sandycove)
• Your One Wild And Precious Life (championed by Doireann Garrihy) – Dr. Maureen Gaffney (Sandycove)

Library Association of Ireland Author of the Year

• Dónal Ryan
• John Boyne
• Liz Nugent
• Marian Keyes
• Maggie O’Farrell
• Rónán Hession

Writing.ie Short Story of the Year

• Blackthorns – Bernard MacLaverty – from Blank Pages & Other Stories (Jonathan Cape)
• Coming In On Time – Stuart Neville – from The Traveller and Other Stories (Bonnier Books UK)
• Little Lives – Deirdre Sullivan – from I Want to Know That I Will Be OK (Banshee Press)
• The Leaving Place – Jan Carson – from The Black Dreams (Blackstaff Press)
• The Wake – Allen Murrin – from Waves of Change (Fresher Publishing)
• Worms – Roddy Doyle – from Life Without Children (Jonathan Cape)

Listowel Writers’ Week Irish Poem of the Year

• Driftwood – Karen J McDonell (The Cormorant Book/Tread Softly Publishing, August 2021)
• Glissando – Noel King (Cyphers, April 2021)
• Longboat at Portaferry – Siobhán Campbell (New Hibernia Review, July 2021)
• Sestina for the Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze – Michael Naghten Shanks (New Irish Writing / Independent, March 2021)

The Love Leabhar Gaeilge Irish Language Book of the Year

• An Cheathrú Rua agus na hOileáin sa Naoú hAois Déag – Áine Ní Chonghaile (CIC)
• Inní – Réaltán Ní Leannáin (Éabhlóid)
• Madame Lazare – Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin (Barzaz)
• Mé Suibhne – Feargal Ó Béarra (Leabhar Breac)
• Ré na bhFathach – Colm Ó Ceallacháin (Leabhar Breac)

The An Post Bookshop of the Year

• Bridge Books – Dromore
• Bridge Street Books – Wicklow
• Carrigaline Bookshop – Carrigaline
• Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop – Galway
• Halfway Up the Stairs – Greystones
• Hodges Figgis – Dublin 2
• Kenny’s Bookshop & Art Gallery – Galway
• Kerr’s Bookshop – Clonakilty
• Little Acorns Bookstore – Derry
• Maynooth Bookshop – Maynooth
• No Alibis Bookstore – Belfast
• Tertulia Bookshop – Westport
• The Company of Books – Dublin 6
• Woodbine Books – Kilcullen
• Woulfe’s Bookshop – Listowel

A one-hour book awards special will be broadcast on RTÉ One television on Wednesday 8 December which will celebrate the six books and authors shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards Book of the Year 2021. The overall winner will be revealed on the show. 

The public are now being asked to cast their votes online for the best books of the year on the An Post Irish Book Awards website anpostirishbookawards.ie. Voters will be entered into a prize draw to win one of five €100 National Book Tokens vouchers and voting closes at 5pm on 15 November.

John Treacy, Chairperson of the An Post Irish Book Awards, said today that like most other sectors, the book industry faced severe challenges this year. “Bookshops were closed; publication dates postponed; events and festivals moved online. The personal touch which we all value so much was sadly missed. But then something wonderful happened. We discovered that books were saving the sanity of thousands of readers during lockdown.”

Now, thank goodness, the bookshops are open once again and The An Post Irish Book Awards season is upon us. Congratulations to all of the authors who have been shortlisted and we look forward to finding out the winners on November 23rd. 

David McRedmond, CEO of An Post, described books as “our best companions through the pandemic”, and said that “as we emerge, they will be our close companions too”.

Find out more on the An Post IBAs website and Twitter.

Making a difference

A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can make sure we can keep reliable, meaningful news open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

Support us Learn More